My New Dream Job

I’m a few days into month two on the road. It doesn’t feel like I’ve been out that long. Maybe it’s because of the slower pace. Maybe it’s because I’m still meandering around Alberta. It literally feels like it’s only been a few days. It feels surreal at times and yet very familiar. I feel at home and content most of the time but still get anxious thinking that I should be doing “more”. I tend to get nervous when it’s time to pack up the trailer and “go somewhere” new. Just an uncomfortable, unsureness, because of the unknown and a little like moving on means missing something. I wish I could be omni-present, everywhere, all the time.

The amount of work involved in doing this little adventure would surprise some people. Exploring and shooting is the easy part. The exploring, still photography capture and shooting of video is the fun and fluid part. This however leads to the time consuming nights in the trailer editing photos and video together, first importing everything onto the hard drives from multiple cameras, then start by editing photos that are referenced in the videos, finding music to go with the videos (if actually connected to wifi, if not, everything stops). Or I revert and try to compose some music on my own in Garage Band on my iPad. If time-lapse was shot, depending on what device, that has to be compiled/converted. Then the video pieces have to be edited into useable pieces and created into one watchable episode. I’m even surprised by how much time all these processes take. It makes taking things slower even easier because to be blunt, I don’t have much choice. I just sometimes feel that if i’m not cranking out video every other day people will lose interest. Which is the opposite of what I’m trying to do.

I treat this whole adventure as a job. Almost too much so. I may be out here doing my thing but I still have a hard time allowing myself to relax. My head thinks that if I’m not driving and shooting I should be editing. If I’m not editing I should be writing or researching. If not that I should be on social media doing all the work that comes with that. I brought a bunch of books and still have yet to crack one. I do watch a movie at night sometimes before falling asleep.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not complaining in the least, this is what I signed up for and I do like doing it all. Even the monotonous task of going bit by bit through a 6 shot panorama removing dust spots is still better than being stuck in a cubicle trying to remember what the sun looks like.

The challenge is in my head. Becoming comfortable with a slower pace. The challenge is still to embrace the slowness and not feel rushed. I’m used to being forced into a hurried, “shoot, run, shoot, run” pace to get as much crammed into a weekend or my two weeks of holidays as I could before returning to the day job, then finding the inspiration and time on a weekend to go through and edit the shots I took. It can be liken to handing an artist his paints and a canvas and saying “hey, you have half an hour, paint me something”. It just doesn’t work that way.

Sometimes I’ll be so excited about a find or a cool location I don’t even think about the video portion. I don’t think about sharing it because in my head that’s what the photos will be for. The video is becoming “context”. Even for me. A chance to show people that I didn’t just stop at the side of the road, snap a couple of shots and move on, that these locations sometimes require multiple hours just to find what it is I’m trying to say. Sometimes I sit and look at what I’m seeing, trying to hear the stories as I slowly wander through what was once someone’s home. A home that is now a safe haven for rodents and birds and a deflection of the wind. A car that has seen miles upon miles back when most roads weren’t even paved. The stories I wish I could hear.

Anyway, just some ramblings of a guy starting his second month of a very exciting adventure. A little insight into the work I do and my mindset as I still work to find my routine and my pace. I’m grateful to have you all along for the ride and hope that you’re enjoying what I share.